Gratacós 2019

Viernes 31 mayo 2019

Carlota Barrera: an emerging designer

Remember her name,because she has only just started her career and her aura is already shining brightly against the panorama of young talents in Spanish fashion. Her name is Carlota Barrera, she is 26 years old and comes from Gijón. She was planning to become an architect, but fashion crossed her path and her bold efforts to give a contemporary twist to Spanish men’s fashion convinced the experts who recently awarded her the prize Vogue Who’s On Next 2019. This award, which is presented annually, is an international initiative by Vogue magazine and is the biggest prize in Spanish fashion, with an endowment of 100,000 euros by Inditex, which has supported the initiative since the first edition. The financial award is in recognition for talent which aims to develop a business plan and it also includes automatic registration in ACME (Association of Spanish Fashion Designers) plus the possibility of participating in the next edition of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid, as well as having the support of the influential magazine.

The controversial Jean Paul Gaultier, President of the Jury, was in charge of revealing the name of the winner during the ceremony. The other two finalists of this eighth edition were the Sevillian designer Ernesto Naranjo and the Madrid couple Oteyza. This award is a boost to the professional career of this Asturian designer who is resident in London, as was the case in past editions with winners such as Marcela Mansergas, Juan Vidal, Maria Ke Fisherman , ManéMané , Moisés Nieto, Leandro Cano and Palomo Spain , who won in 2018. Carlota Barrera thus becomes part of that cast of young promising Spanish fashion designers, the so-called Who’s On Next Generation

A turn to masculine fashion

Carlota Barrera is from Asturias, but resides in London. Her career actually began in the British capital, after taking a master’s degree at the London College of Fashion and after working in several haute couture houses. In 2018, the young designer decided to fulfill her dream by setting up a company that would shake up Spanish men’s fashion via three basic pillars: tradition, craftsmanship and responsibility. These are the foundations of the creations from her own branded company.

Her company is indeed constantly involved in the search for and innovation in the best fabrics that come from processes which respect the environment. And although her studio is located in London, from where she develops the brand, she presents her collections in Spain and her most emblematic products are those made with materials that evoke her country of origin. “We are a small brand and consider it essential to have control of the value-chain and to be able to maintain ethical and fair values ​​throughout all processes,” said the designer at the award ceremony.

Carlota Barrera designs for an audience of age 20 to 45, for young men who seek heritage, luxury and sophistication in a type of garments that follow the mandates of classic tailoring with its clean patterns and artisan motifs, but with a more modern and aesthetic approach together with current vision. Although her main clients are men, Carlota Barrera also dresses women who are attracted by masculine image and clothing. Among her main objectives is the increase in brand awareness, its development and realisation via international expansion, but emphasizing local fashion and roots culture.

Her first men’s collection was “El Matador y el Pescador” and the mission that is evident in all her creations is to achieve the maximum quality in her collections, uniting tradition and contemporaneity to satisfy the demands of the most avant-garde of men. This injection of capital and the support of Vogue can deliver a huge boost to the career of Carlota Barrera, providing upward movement for this young company with plenty to say now as it will doubtless have in the future. The career of this Asturian designer has only just started.